The less than clement weather this evening didn't stop 8 intrepid GoodGymers from donning their cagoules and heading over to Surbiton Library for some extreme gardening. The task was to empty out two ivy root filled planters to enable them to be refilled with cleaner soil ready for planting.

What a wash out! The weather was stormy from the get go with lightning in the distance and heavy rain starting soon after we arrived. We were even treated to a bit of hail too! This was just a mere distraction (kind of) to us GoodGymers as we set to the heavy work of emptying the beds. Mattoxes and shovels flying all around, we managed to fill four big ton bags with waste and were thankful of the run home to warm up!

A big congrats to Marie-Noelle who was celebrating her 50th good deed this evening - amazing work!

GoodGym Kingston smashed out another session at the amazing Growbaby this evening. After we had all run, walked or cycled there, we were greeted with a long list of tasks to tick off so we got straight to it.

Tom, Sabir and Dave were upstairs sorting out the bookshelves, toy boxes and board game cupboard, Claire, Mel, Skyla and Chloe were tasked with sorting out the huge amount of donations that were dropped off by DLAG at the weekend - nappies, wipes and babyfood to give out to the local families in need. Jana amassed a load of clothing to hang out on the rail for the families to browse when the charity was open the following day. Rachel kept us all in check and made sure the jobs were done well and within the time!

A big welcome to Skyla and Chloe on their first good deed! Lovely to have you along and hope to see you soon.

Tuesday's group run got us up the hill to Surbiton Library where we met the walkers and the cyclists. A great turn out which was much appreciated as we had some heavy work to do. The ivy in the planters had got 2/3 foot deep and the poor plants were trying hard as they could but were struggling to get through the mass of roots and stems. It was our job to get rid of as much ivy as possible and free the plants.

With great gusto we grabbed loppers, secateurs and mattox and got to work. It took great effort to give the planters a haircut but we really got into it with our head torches in the dark. Once we shorn the first planter within an inch of its life we split into two teams with the first team continuing to get out as much of the root mass as possible and the second to start the process again with the other planter. So many hands did indeed make light work and we started the tidy up process well within the hour. Three massive sacks of green waste was produced from the two planters and 11 very delighted GoodGym volunteers!

We are looking forward to the next session where we empty out more of the planters so we can refill with good soil and then the planting can be done. Join us for the next session at Surbiton Library

Last week 2 of us counted and compiled our plastic around the packaging we used, and registered this on a site so a better idea on how much plastic is wasted on a daily basic. This is to show the manufacturers that they need to find a different way, for our planets survival.

GoodGym Kingston were off to local charity Growbaby this evening, a regular destination for our Tuesday evening run. As per usual we had a whole host of tasks awaiting us...

A crew of flat-pack builders set to work constructing 4 new STOOLS. This was a lot more involved than any of us had expected but fortunately Farzeen brought the right TOOLS for the job!

Meanwhile, donations needed to be sorted with food items being checked for best before dates and nappies sorted into sizes and stacked

Luke made sure that Growbaby were abiding by the RULES, ensuring that the fire exit was free and clear of obstructions.

Finally, Jana set about preparing a clothes rail for seasonal baby clothes... lots of blankets, sleep-bags, wellies, rain coats and CAGOULES... just the job for these rainy days.

Lots done and an enormous sense of well-being at the end. 5k in the bag for good measure too! Mission complete.